Question

Before trying to query the AD server I would like to check if it is alive and kicking. Looks like a trivial thing, but I haven´t found anything to elucidate this.

How can I do that?

Answer 1

I just try to get the current domain context associated with the running user:

try {     var domain = Domain.GetCurrentDomain();     /* Whatever i need from the domain */ } catch(ActiveDirectoryOperationException ex) {     MessageBox.Show('Cannot contact AD Server'); } 

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If you want to connect to another domain you can try:

try {     var domain = Domain.GetDomain(         new DirectoryContext(DirectoryContextType.Domain, 'mydomain.local'));     /* Whatever i need from the domain */ } catch(ActiveDirectoryOperationException ex) {     MessageBox.Show('Cannot contact AD Server'); }